Marowak Dojo ~ Living Quarters

[Namohysip]

"No, I think I'll be fine," Owen admitted. "Like, I've been through a lot worse, you know? So it's not like--" Owen winced, because the Charizard had glared at him, but was still completely soundless. "Can you lighten up a little? Please?"

Charizard said nothing.

"I know, but I don't want to--"

Charizard said nothing.

"...Curio," Owen said, "I'm sorry about him. I don't... like that he's talking that way around you."

 

[NebulaDreams]

“No problem, I can’t understand what he’s saying anyway. I guess he’s like that devil on your shoulder, except everyone can see it.”

 

[Namohysip]

"...Y-you can't?" Owen said in a half-squeak. "So I've been t-talking to the air this whole time?"

Charizard seemed to be rolling his eyes.

"Oh. Oh..." For some reason, this small shock was enough to make him slowly put his things on the ground and sit. "I think... I think I've been moving too fast. Maybe relaxing would be a good idea after all... That Shadow Machine thing might've really shaken me up."

 

[NebulaDreams]

“Well, air that happens to look like a Charizard with a lightbulb in its head. Like those clouds you see that kind of look like somethin’ else.”

She was shocked that exchange broke Owen, of all things.

"I think... I think I've been moving too fast. Maybe relaxing would be a good idea after all... That Shadow Machine thing might've really shaken me up."

“I’ll say. That was really intense, and considering what you went through and, well, the stuff you said, you have the right to be shaken up.”

 

[Namohysip]

Owen laughed weakly, and the Charizard sat down with Owen, arms and wings folded over. It did nothing else.

"Right... Right." What's gotten into him? All gloomy and subdued, this wasn't like him. He was usually the one going around giving everyone pep talks, making sure they were fine, and--

Bahamut's words echoed again. How long until he cracked... Was this it? Did he crack?

He glanced at Charizard, who nodded. And then it seemed to say something, which made Owen's flame dim a little.

"...Yeah... you're right," he said to Charizard. "I have the right to be shaken up, Curio?" he asked, smiling. "It's weird to hear that. It's true but it's weird to hear. Sometimes I feel like, I don't know, like I'm better than that. Stuff like this shouldn't shake me anymore. I mean, I'm taking it better than the others are, but I totally forgot to help them out and see how they're doing. Maybe that's how it shook me, because I went right to getting my next task done, getting ready to move out, and... y-yeah, you're right," he added, glancing at Charizard. "I'm rambling again. Sorry, Curio. I might've unloaded a lot of stuff on you that doesn't make sense."

 

[NebulaDreams]

Owen laughed weakly, and the Charizard sat down with Owen, arms and wings folded over. It did nothing else.

That image of Owen and the shadow Charizard sitting next to each other struck Curio as cute, but that was overtaken by a bit of sadness as she realised how exhausted Owen was.

"...Yeah... you're right," he said to Charizard. "I have the right to be shaken up, Curio?" he asked, smiling. "It's weird to hear that. It's true but it's weird to hear. Sometimes I feel like, I don't know, like I'm better than that. Stuff like this shouldn't shake me anymore. I mean, I'm taking it better than the others are, but I totally forgot to help them out and see how they're doing. Maybe that's how it shook me, because I went right to getting my next task done, getting ready to move out, and... y-yeah, you're right," he added, glancing at Charizard. "I'm rambling again. Sorry, Curio. I might've unloaded a lot of stuff on you that doesn't make sense."

"Pfft, eat me, of course that makes sense." Curio relaxed, sitting opposite Owen. She still had that Charizard on her mind, but she ignored it for now. "No matter who you are, you need time for yourself. Like, seriously, it's exhausting worrying about other people all the time. Sometimes, you tend to forget about yourself whenever that happens." She yawned. "I do like Brisa and Cynthian and all that, but yanno, it does feel like I'm mostly the one giving the pep talks around here."

Curio chuckled unexpectedly. "That sounds horrible. I mean, I'll always be there for them when they're in a pickle, but it's been a while since I've done something with my own company without worrying about everyone else's problems. It's been a while since I last sculpted, for instance, and I really miss that." She rubbed her paws, resisting the urge to sift through Treasure Town's garbage. "Now I'm starting to ramble too. But point is, you gotta take care of yourself too. I don't mean to spout that 'power of friendship' crap, but it doesn't hurt to talk it out with others."

 

[Namohysip]

"It really doesn't," Owen said. "In fact... I kinda, um, well, that whole, the, that---the power of friendship stuff is... I really think that sort of thing is true. ...See? Even he agrees." He gestured to Charizard, who flinched and hastily looked away. "Pokemon are just like that. Humans, too. It's something that we share, in a way. The need to have others with you, that companionship..."

Owen's flame was coming back, and Charizard seemed a little hazier than before.

"You used to sculpt?" Owen asked. "that must be a little harder to replicate here. This place has books, and that's what I usually do in my downtime. Maybe we can--oh! You don't think Destiny Village has something for you to do? It's supposed to be really advanced, so maybe there's something there."

 

[NebulaDreams]

Curio was glad to see Owen get more cheerful as the conversation went on.

"Yeah, well I do sculpt." She flexed her nubby Riolu digits. "Back home, I just took all sorts of trash and stuck them together with a hot glue gun. You don't really have good control as a Lucario, so I'd probably have even less control as a Riolu. Either way, we still don't have opposable thumbs." She shrugged. "But drawing works fine for me if all else fails."

Her ears perked up at the mention of Destiny Village's technology. "Well, it can't hurt to try."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded. "I think there's a weird property of this world compared to yours. I didn't think it was all that weird where I lived, but handling things might be easier. Maybe you noticed it?" He wasn't really sure, but he knew it irritated the hell out of Dave for some reason. "Must be some kind of... telekinesis that all Pokemon have that we just don't realize. It's funny what you take for granted if it's just always there. Like the sun, or the stars, and--"

Suddenly, the Charizard reached for Owen and patted him on the back. Then, he evaporated away.

"...Oh," he said. "I guess... oh." Suddenly quiet, like he was pondering over Charizard's final words, he looked downward. "He was... just helping me..."

 

[NebulaDreams]

"I think there's a weird property of this world compared to yours. I didn't think it was all that weird where I lived, but handling things might be easier. Maybe you noticed it?" He wasn't really sure, but he knew it irritated the hell out of Dave for some reason. "Must be some kind of... telekinesis that all Pokemon have that we just don't realize. It's funny what you take for granted if it's just always there. Like the sun, or the stars, and--"

She shrugged. "Maybe I might've had more experience grasping objects and all that stuff since we were taught how to do it early on. But yeah, I guess I don't have much trouble here. I mean, I doubt the Pokemon here have any trouble at all if they build buildings and stuff."

"...Oh," he said. "I guess... oh." Suddenly quiet, like he was pondering over Charizard's final words, he looked downward. "He was... just helping me..."

"So... is he like a permanent part of you now?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen patted at his chest, like that would somehow help, and then looked back at Curio. "Well, he kind of always was, in a weird way," he admitted, poking his claws together. "He's... someone I used to be. That I kind of... tried to get away from. To be a different person. It's... it's a long story. It's kind of scary to think about how different I am now..."

 

[NebulaDreams]

“I think I know that these shadows are your worst sides, or the other sides of yourself that you’ve tried to hide, but I didn’t know they could just pop out of thin air like that, y’know. But whatever you went through, it sounds like heavy shit.”

 

[Namohysip]

Owen tittered at that, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't really know," he said. "I guess it was heavy, but I only have my perspective for it. T-to be honest, actually, er... that... my Shadow, I mean, he... he wasn't really doing what I'd've expected a Shadow to do to me. I gave up, back there. The Machine... just took that one insecurity I had, and I just felt it exploding out, like I wasn't good enough, that nobody would listen, that I just... wanted to go home. And right when that happened, he showed up, and picked me up, and... fought for me." He laughed a little. "He was protecting me. I don't get it... Why would my own... why would he protect me? He was so disappointed in what he became..."

Even as a Riolu, Curio could probably pick up on the most cursory, vague emotions that Owen was giving off, perhaps in part due to how open he was in general. His chaotic flame showed signs of all kinds of emotions--confusion, gratitude, shame, relief, all wrapped into a tiny Charmander package, all expressed at once, and all toward the same thing, that Shadow that was apparently himself.

 

[NebulaDreams]

Curio didn't say anything as Owen sifted through his thoughts. He took it a lot better than she expected, but he still seemed a little confused at what happened, especially with that business surrounding the shadow. "I guess it's just... just you protecting yourself in a way. Does that check out? I mean, as long as he doesn't come after us again, I don't mind his company."

 

[Namohysip]

The flames were regulating. Charmander like him were open to a fault; it wouldn't take an empath to figure out how they were truly feeling, even if they wanted to hide it. Owen knew this, too, and he hoped one day he could properly control it so nobody was always looking at his tail for how he was feeling. It felt rude, somehow, and he appreciated that Curio didn't seem to be doing that. Even if it wasn't really anybody's fault if they tried.

"He's a little intense," Owen replied with a small chuckle. "But maybe you're right. I think I'm going to try talking to him more, or... to myself, or... I don't know if that's healthy, actually..." He paused. "A-and how have you been? You've been here the whole time trying to help me, but how've you been? Bahamut told me a little while ago that I'd be spreading myself thin if I never took the time to help myself out, so... your turn?"

 

[NebulaDreams]

"But maybe you're right. I think I'm going to try talking to him more, or... to myself, or... I don't know if that's healthy, actually..."

"I mean, whatever works for you," Curio said with a shrug.

"A-and how have you been? You've been here the whole time trying to help me, but how've you been? Bahamut told me a little while ago that I'd be spreading myself thin if I never took the time to help myself out, so... your turn?"

"Oh, Bahamut's now the team therapist, I guess. Well, it seems like he lightened up a bit." She laughed at her own joke. Dammit, why wouldn't she stop with the puns? "I'm okay though." Curio sighed. "No, really, I am, but it was rough for me earlier. Just goes to show you have problems no matter what universe you're in. And to be honest--" she rubbed her paws--"well, I dunno what to expect from my shadow, but I'm not looking forward to it when and if that happens."

 

[Namohysip]

"It seems like it manifests a little differently for everyone," Owen said. "I guess that's only natural, since it feels like our Radiance has been doing some crazy things, too. Sometimes their Shadows are kinda just floating there, maybe acting like an extension of you, and other times, like mine..." Owen half-expected Charizard to reappear right then, but he didn't. "...I guess they act on their own, or maybe they're a part of me that I locked away, you know? Maybe that Machine hit me so hard that it chipped off an old me to remind me of how I used to be--y'know, for better or worse."

He was back to rambling again, and this time Charizard wasn't there to remind him of it. But that old light in his eyes was already back, and his shoulders, ill-defined as they were, seemed lighter, and Owen didn't even realize it.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Yeah, and that's what scares me." She clutched her body. "Whatever I locked away, and all that. Sometimes, when I'm alone, I think about myself, I look deep into myself, and sometimes, I don't like what I see. It's like a voice in my head that tells me everything is pointless and that I should just quit while I'm ahead. And sometimes, I feel like I'm gonna k--"

She cut herself off, and started again. "I feel like I'm gonna hurt somebody. Like all the stuff that's been piling up in my head will just overflow."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen tried to hide how much that struck true for him, and he was doing a bad job at it. "Y-yeah," he said, nodding. "That's... I know a little bit about how that feels, and it's awful, isn't it? To be honest, I..." He wasn't sure if he should say it, but he had already gone halfway. Why not entirely?

"I'm glad the first thing to come up from my Shadows was that and not... n-not, um, something else. Back home, and even here, I have a bit of a need to battle, but sometimes, I take it too far. It's... ingrained in me. And not in a normal way. I don't think it's normal. If... things don't go right, and something gets me in that headspace, sometimes I actually... do..." He shook his head. "It's like an itch I'm not supposed to scratch. I don't think it's the same as you, though, where... well. I don't really know for you... Sorry. Shouldn't have assumed."

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Nah, I totally get that. There's a part of me that does wanna fight sometimes." Curio clenched her fist. "But whenever that part comes up, I also think about what happened in the past when that became my lifestyle for a bit. And I really, really hated it. So I dunno if it'll be my battle instinct that rises up, or the part about me that--"

She couldn't complete that sentence. But it ended with thoughts about almost strangling someone else. In any case, she shrugged and stood up. "Whatever. I can't really fret about something like this yet. It seems like you're doing okay for now, Owen." She winked at him. "You're good, kid."